Twilight Princess Aftermath
by Tazaki4
Summary: This is what happens when the story ends and the cutscenes close. Link comoes back to Ordon, but the shard causes problems. Now he is on the run from the evil that seeks the shard of Zant. He has too much to protect to lose! LINKxILIA! M for BLOOD.
1. Prologue

Welcome to my third written fan-fic. I recently beat this game, and I fell in love with the ending so much. They left it so SO open. They showed Ilia waiting for Link and he rides in. And then… nothing! Which means… I GET TO MAKE THE REAL ENDING. But as anyone who reads my work knows, that there is no just "happy ending" I need to put a little strife in there. Nothing good comes without work, right? Well, whatever. I am excited for this story, and I wrote it a while ago and forgot to post or finish it! hushed whispering and astonished faces But I WILL FINISH IT!!!

Ok, here is where I intend to go with this. Link is returning back to his home, but the shard Zant stuck in him is bothering him. If he touches it, it goes inside him and he turns into a wolf. What will the town think, or his friends, or Ilia for that matter? Oh, and maybe I will have King Bolbin appear. This story is assuming that Link is about twenty and Ilia is eighteen. Oh, and I have very little idea how to write Link, for obvious reasons. So I chose a sort of sober, shy guy, who enjoys it when people listen to him but doesn't want too much attention. Disagree? Fine, but don't whine about it. I don't own The Legend of Zelda or any of its characters.

Prologue: To begin…

"Ilia? Do you think we will ever get back?" Ilia sighed. This was the tenth time in as many minutes this question was asked. The two boys were walking up front with the horses and Telma. Ilia sat on the back of the wagon with Beth.

"Yes, we are going to be home soon. I recognize this area." Ilia smiled to herself. Only weeks ago she hadn't been able to remember anything. _Not even Link… and how could I forget him. I might be harsh on him when it comes to Epona, but I love him. _Ilia had had a crush on Link since they had met. When Link had come to their town as an orphan at the age of nine it was her father, the mayor, and her that had greeted him.

"_Hello, son. My name is Bo and I am the mayor of this town. Who are you?"_

"…"

"_What? You need to speak up son!"_

"_My name is Link."_

"_Well Link, welcome to the town of Ordon! This is my daughter, Ilia. Say hello to the boy, Ilia." Ilia hid behind her father's large frame. She peeked out at the disheveled looking young boy._

"_Hi…" She hid again. Link was confused by her actions, but he needed a place to live. _

"_Sir, I need a place to stay. Where can I make a house?"_

"_Well, I can't say that there is any available space inside the city gates…" Link looked downcast. "But there is a nice tree right outside the gate which you are more then welcome to. I know all of us will be more than willing to help you build. Until you get it built you can stay with us, right Ilia?" Ilia managed to peak around her father again. _

"_Yeah, stay with us… Link." Link's face brightened. He finally had a home after wandering around for months._

"_Thank you, Mayor sir and Ilia…"_

Ilia sighed. It had been almost a week since the giant walls of light that had surrounded the castle had collapsed and an explosion had been seen. That night a weird storm had come through. Less then a week later, Rusl had come to Kakariko Village to collect the children. _I wanted to stay. I knew that Link would come back. When I asked Rusl if he knew anything about Link he just looked away from me. He told me that the last time he had seen Link was when he had entered a castle door that led to the throne room. He had been about to go through, but it locked behind Link. Then the explosion happened. No one knew what had happened. _Ilia looked at the slowly passing ground. _I want to go look for him, but I don't know where to start. Damn it! Why am I so helpless? Link has been saving me and the children for months now, fighting for our safety and to regain my memories. Why can't I help him now... I can't even find him!_

Link was ready to go home. It was only earlier this morning that he had gotten away from the city. Zelda had asked him to stay and help her lead the people._ Sorry, but I am more of a country boy anyway._ Link rode Epona out of the western gate of Hyrule Town. "Well, now what?" Epona pawed at the ground with her hoof in the direction of home. "Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. We should go through Kakariko to make sure the kids are on their way home. And Ilia…" Epona whinnied at this. "Yeah, you know her. If she is there maybe she would like to ride back on you." Epona suddenly lurched off towards Kakariko. _Somehow I knew you would jump at that opportunity. You always did like her… _Link rode hard across the field he had fought in only a week ago. In his saddle bag was the sword of Ganon. Zelda had let him keep it as a trophy. It hadn't radiated evil like he had expected it to, in fact it felt like the sword had originally been one used for good. Ganon must have stolen it and corrupted it, and on his death it was purified._ Which is a good thing, considering I promised to return the master sword in the near future and a sword will come in handy…_ He rode across the arch that spanned the gaping chasm and through the gates to Kakariko.

"You mean they already left?"

"Yes Link, they left early this morning with Rusl."

"Alright, thanks. I will see you all later." Link had arrived too late. _Blast, they are already gone. Maybe I can catch up to them. _"Alright, Epona, let's make tracks." Link charged off. _I could make better time if I got rid of all of my equipment, but I never know when it might come in handy. And I can't get rid of that shard whatever I do. No telling what it would do to someone else. I wish Midna would have taken it with her. _Link charged across the Kakariko Gorge. _I don't want to keep them all waiting, least of all Ilia. _

Ilia hopped off of the back of the wagon as it stopped in her town._ Home… finally home._ She ran to her house and saw her father making his best attempt at running toward her. She wrapped him in a hug.

"Daddy! I am back."

"Thank the goddesses! Your memory, did it return?"

"Yes, but how did you know about that?"

"Link brought us constant updates on all of you kids. He was especially worried about you." Ilia blushed at that, but then suddenly remembered something.

"Father, I am going to wait for Link back at the gate, Ok?"

"Sure, that will be fine. But be careful!"

"I will, oh, and father?"

"Yes, Ilia?"

"It's good to be back."

Link was almost home. _Just a few more turns and then I can sleep in a bed again. Hot food and friends. Farming. The easy life. Why the goddesses ever chose me to be a hero I will never know. Probably because I can't stand to see people in pain…_ He saw his home in the distance, and he was going full gallop now. _Home._ Suddenly out of nowhere Ilia appeared in front of Epona. Normally, if had been anyone else, Epona would have run them over. After all, that is what she had been doing to bokoblins for the past months. But this was Ilia, Epona's caretaker almost as much as Link was. Epona bucked. Link was thrown off of Epona and landed on his side, the side which had his pouch carrying the shard of black magic. As Link landed the shard pierced his bag and slid into his side. Link gasped in pain as the shard embedded itself in his thigh. Almost instantly Link was transformed into a wolf. Ilia, who had gotten over the fright of almost being run over, had just come around Epona just as Link had transformed. Now, an unconscious wolf lay where Link had been only moments ago. _W…What?_ She heard shouting in the distance.

"Ilia! Is everything ok over there?" Ilia had to think fast. It would be hard to explain to the town that this wolf was Link, if it was. And just as hard to not have them kill it on sight.

"Uh… Yes! Yes, everything is fine. Link just got back and I'm taking Epona to the spring."

"Ok, be careful!"

"I will!" Ilia immediately went into motion. She lifted the large wolf and put it on Epona's back. She then led Epona away as fast as she could to the spring. She then took Link off of the horse and sat down at the water's edge with him. She tried to wake him up with water from the spring. He started to open his eyes. Ilia just knelt in front of his face.

_What…what happened?_ Link opened his eyes to find Ilia in front of him. _Whoa, I fell off of Epona! I must have passed out! Funny how I never did that before… Oh well, guess this would be the time for a witty comment about my horse riding skills…._

"Grr…" _Oh damn._

Link tried to lift his hand but found out that it was once again a paw. _The shard!_ Link looked back to his back right leg to find a shard imbedded in his thigh. Ilia just stared at him. _Well, I might as well show her that I am friendly. _Link sat back and wagged his tail. Ilia just continued to stare._ What's wrong?_

"Is that really you Link?"

_How does she know it is me? Maybe she saw the transformation! What do I do? If I say yes then that might hurt our relationship. Friends with a guy who can turn into a wolf? Not a chance. Maybe if I just act dumb she will leave…_

_Maybe he is only as smart as a wolf, now._ Ilia realized that she was only feet from what could possibly be a wild wolf. _But he seems to at least understand that I am not his enemy._

"Here, I know you are Link. I saw you turn into… this wolf. Do you still have Link's mind at least or are you a regular wolf?"

The wolf turned to Epona and started growling. Hey, Epona! What should I do? It almost looked like he was talking to the horse. Epona gave a snort. What do you mean? Tell the truth! But, what if she doesn't like me… What an idiot… Huh? Men, even heroes, can be so dense… What do you mean by that? Truth, now. Ok, fine. The wolf started growling and yipping at her. At first she was frightened, thinking he was about to attack, but he just sat there and growled like her was trying to talk to her. Ok, the truth is that I am really Link. I need to find someway to remove this shard. 

"I am sorry, but I can't understand you. Are you trying to tell me something?"  
Hey, wait a minute! This is the chance of a lifetime. If I can't tell her how I really feel about her as a man, then I can at least tell her when she can't understand. 

Are you sure that is a good idea, Link?  
Yes, now stop worrying. What's the worst that could happen? Ahem. Ilia, I think I am in love with you. You are my best friend and have been since I came to the village. You are kind… "and caring and nice and beautiful. You never think of yourself, only of others even when you lost your memory. I wish I could tell you all this when you could understand me, but I knew I couldn't. I wish I could tell you I love you and how much… you… Ilia?" Ilia was half staring at him and half staring at something behind him. Link turned to see a giant glowing goat. "Ordona! What are you doing here?"

"I live here. Thank you for saving Hyrule, in return I removed the shard from your body. If you ever need it removed again just come to one of our springs." Ordona disappeared in a flash. Link looked down at his normal human body and saw the shard lying next to him. He looked up at Ilia, who had her mouth covered by her hands as she stared at him.

"Um… did you… hear anything I said?" She nodded. "Ah… so… sorry about that…mmph!" Ilia ran up to him and threw her arms around him with a kiss, sending both of them into the stream. They laid there for minutes until Link heard giggling from where he knew a crawl space was.

"Alright, come out of there. I know you are there, so don't make me use my slingshot!"

"Eep!" Three young kids popped out of the grass on the side of the spring. Ilia did her own little cry of surprise and almost flew off of Link. Link got up with reluctance._ Talk about a dream come true!_

"So, how much of that did you see?" Link asked as Meg squealed in delight.

"You mean you did _more_ than just kiss? We just came in to see Ilia jumping on you and then you guys kissing!" Colin ran up to Link.

"I am glad you are back, Link. Look! I made my own sword and shield. Renado helped me a little…"

"That's great, Colin. Maybe we can practice together some time." Colin immediately smiled at this. Meg and Talo were still giggling at the thought of Link and Ilia kissing!

"Alright, you kids, I think it is high time we go back to the village. After all, the last time we were all here the bulbins attacked." All the kids obeyed. They knew Link would protect them, he had been doing it since he was old enough to wield his wooden sword.

"_Link, you shouldn't live outside the village. It just isn't safe. I can only protect you if you are inside the gates!"_

"_Rusl, sir, I can take care of myself."_

"_I doubt that, you should know that there are creatures out there much stronger then either of us…"_

"_I do know that, but I can still take care of myself."_

_Rusl and a younger Link were walking towards Link's house after a long day of taking care of the goats. Rusl couldn't imagine why anyone would want to live outside the walls when he and his wife had offered their home instead._

"_I don't think you understand. Have you even seen a bokoblin? Those guys are evil…"_

"_Are bokoblins sort of your height, but bluish or red and have swords made of metal?"_

"_Yes, that is a bokoblin."_

"_Well, then I think I can handle myself." They had finally arrived at Link's house in the tree. Link continued around the tree to a pot. Inside the pot were almost ten large metal swords._

"_They come all the time, and since the first one I have never even been hurt. I was startled by him, and I had to use my hands. The others I killed with my wooden sword you gave me. I would use one of their metal ones, but they are still too heavy…" Link drew the sword and Rusl saw the telltale stains of blood on it. "I want to stay out here so that I can help protect this town. You all took me in and now I want to return the favor. Besides, I want to protect some special people…"_

"_Like Ilia?" Rusl's question caused Link to blush. Rusl smiled, but was still amazed at how well the kid fought. "If you ever need help then just call, ok?"_

"_Yes sir!"_

Ilia and Link waited a little before following the kids. Ilia was still blushing and looking down at the ground. Link used his completely gauntleted hand to pick up the shard. He placed it back in its pouch before turning to Ilia.

"Um… Ilia? I didn't exactly think you were going to hear that… but that doesn't mean I didn't want to say it."

"… I… I wanted to say it too. I had a crush on you for ten years now. I… I am sorry I jumped on you…"

"Don't be sorry. It was nice. You can do it whenever you like!"

"So… why did you even turn into a wolf? And who was that giant glowing goat? And what is that shard you carry around? And where have you been for the past few months? And…"

"Whoa, hold it a second so I can answer the questions." Ilia smiled repentantly. "Ok, so I turned into a wolf because I had the shard stuck in my leg. The giant glowing goat is Ordona, the spirit of these woods. And the shard I carry around is a piece of solidified black magic that Zant cast on me a while ago. It allows me to turn into a wolf, but the only way I could remove it before was to have Midna take it out…"

"Who are Midna and Zant?"

"Well, to explain that I would have to tell you everything that has happened in the last few months. And that is going to take a long time, so I think I should probably explain it to everyone at once. The only one who saw me a few times was Rusl, except I got help from your dad once and I also got help from you. I had to save Colin once, but that doesn't count because he was unconscious."

"Wow… sounds like a long story."

"Well, it is! You happen to be looking at a genuine Knight of Hyrule now. I was knighted only a few days ago."

"From orphan farm boy to Knight of Hyrule… what does that mean anyway?"

"Well, most knights are stationed in the castle as guards for the princess."

"Oh… so you are going to be leaving again…" Ilia was suddenly downcast.

"Nope. I got the princess, who happens to be a friend of mine, to allow me to be stationed in a remote area of Hyrule. To keep the peace. It happens to quite near here, in fact. I think it was some little town called Ordon…"

"That's great, Link! Now you can still be home!" Ilia didn't say the last part she wanted to._ …with me…_

"Yep, but I might be called away once and a while to other various parts of the nation. I will probably be sent to help the hidden town in the north to repopulate… I mean I will be the princess's emissary for a while…"

"If you do go, take me with you."

"Huh?" Link blushed, thinking about his misworded comment about repopulating the town with Ilia…

"I want to thank Impaz for helping me escape that one time…"

"Ok, if I go then you can bet I will take you with me!"

Link and Ilia had arrived back at town. Rusl was there to greet him with a slap on the back.

"Welcome back, Link! Wow, I didn't think you were even alive anymore after we lost you in that castle and then the explosion and storm. We didn't even find any bodies at all. But the princess has apparently returned and now you are back as well. How did you do it? I mean, when we entered the castle after you we didn't even make it into the first room because there were these giant lizard creatures with armor on."

"I guess I can tell everyone the story when we have or next town meeting…"

"TOWN MEETING! EVERYONE GO TO THE MAYOR'S HOUSE!" Rusl screamed at the top of his lungs. Every knew that this meant that they would get to hear the story of what their children and Link had been doing for the past few months. Before Link could even blink every person in the town had sprinted over to the mayor's house and had already taken a seat. Link, Ilia, and Rusl were the last to enter. The children were seated on the stairs and peeking through the railings. Uli had her baby with her and Rusl stood behind her. The mayor sat in his large chair. The rest of the inhabitants of Ordon sat around the edges of the room. A chair was placed next to the mayor's and Link was bid to sit in it. Link sat down and watched Ilia take a seat on the floor in front of the stairs.

"This town meeting has been called to order. The only business we have is for Link to tell us all that has happened since the children were taken from this town and you went after them. So… speak."

"Um… ok… how do I start? The whole thing started right after I went to see Ilia and get Epona from the spring…" Giggling from the children interrupted Link's speaking. The mayor glared at them and they were quiet.

"Alright. So this giant bulbin, named King Bulbin, burst through the gate to the spring. One of his henchmen hit me from behind, I think, and when I came to there was no one there. Epona was gone, Ilia as gone, and the kids were gone. I ran into the forest to see if I could find them before they got to far away…" Link continued the story long into the night. It was near midnight when he finished.

"So I had to fight Ganondorf alone. He was really tough, but I managed to knock him down and kill him with a sword to his gut. Then we sent Midna back to her kingdom of twilight and she destroyed the mirror. Then we returned to the castle and everyone celebrated. I was knighted and then I came back here. At that is that."  
Everyone was staring at him.

"What?"

"So you single handedly saved the kingdom?"

"No, I had help from so many people that I can't even count them all."

"But you, the hero of time, just killed the most famous evil doer in history."

"Um… yes?"

"Do you have the Master Sword here?"

"Yeah, I felt I should return it to the sacred grove soon." Link drew it from its sheath. The light from the fire gleamed off of the blade and lit the room. "I do have all the rest of my equipment and a large sum of rupees."

"How much?"

"Enough to buy every piece of property in this town and most of the surrounding area, not that I would."

"Wow, but did you really turn into a wolf? That seems kind of far fetched…"

"No more farfetched then a city flying in the sky. Actually, Ilia has seen me turn into a wolf." Everyone looked at Ilia where she sat. She smiled a little.

"Yes, I accidentally made him change when he arrived."

"Was that before or after you tackled him and kissed him?" Meg and Talo giggled. Ilia blushed profusely as most of the towns folks just smiled. They had known about Ilia and Link almost before Link had known Ilia's name by heart.

"Before, Talo. I could show you all, but I don't like doing it. It is rather painful. Here is the shard that does it." Link carefully pulled out the black glowing crystal. "I don't know how to destroy it, but I know I should…" Just as he said this he heard a familiar and hated sound. "Everyone, stay inside!" Link drew his sword and excited the building, leaving many confused villagers inside. Only Rusl and Ilia had heard the sound before and they knew it meant trouble. "It is a lizalfos. What is it doing here?" Rusl drew his own blade and followed Link out. Ilia followed and barely made it out before her father blocked the rest of the children from exiting.

Link had a mask on and was looking toward the city gates. Three lizalfos were looking around and apparently searching for something. Link drew his bow and gave it to Ilia, he hadn't even turned around.

"Here, if they come after you then use this. You should have stayed inside."

"What? And not be here to watch you save our town again?" Rusl shushed her.

"Keep it down, this is going to be a surprise attack." Link nodded. Rusl was shaking, thought. He had tried to fight a lizalfo by himself in the castle… it hadn't been pretty. In fact, if it weren't for the fact that he had tripped under the sweeping blade and a stray fragment from an explosion had taken the beast's head off, he wouldn't be here.

"Rusl, I need you to watch my back, but don't attack unless I call for you. I can handle these weaklings…"

"What? Weaklings? I can't even beat one of these if I had weeks to plan strategy!"

"That's fine, I will take them out. Just make sure a forth doesn't show up." Link jumped up from his place hidden in the grass. He pulled out what looked like a glove with a claw on the end to Ilia and fired it at the closest lizard warrior. The claw stuck into the lizard's eye and the top of his head before retracting, leaving the lizalfo bleeding from an empty eye socket. Link put away the claw as the three lizalfos ran toward him. Instead of fleeing and attacking from range, like Rusl thought he would, Link drew his sword and positioned himself for a jump strike. As the three approached, Link let out a feral yell and lunged at the three, knocking all three off of their feet with large bloody gashes in their chests. Each lizard-man hybrid gushed foul smelling blood, causing Link's face to be covered in globs of the black blood. Two of the lizalfos disintegrated into black smoke and the third looked about to get up, but Link jumped onto the body and stabbed the heart before decapitating the monster. It also disappeared into smoke, but not before staining the grass with its black blood. Link looked around for any more enemies, but couldn't find any. He stabbed his blade into the earth to clean it before turning back towards the spectators. He turned to find his mentor and the girl of his dreams looking at him as if he was a complete stranger. It was almost... fear.

"Well, Link. I guess you have grown stronger." Rusl managed to cough out a small chuckle that showed anything but humor.

"Wow… Link, you are really powerful…" Ilia looked like she was in shock, amazed and astounded, but it wasn't the same seriousness and near fear that Rusl now showed.

"… I am sorry."

"What?" Both of his friends were surprised at his remark. Neither had any idea what he would be sorry for.

"I brought them here. They were after me, or more likely they were after the shard. I need to go…"

"What? Why?"

"Because more will come, and until I can get rid of this shard the creatures will not stop following me. I thought that the incidents in the city were just random, but this destroys that idea. I was constantly under attack in Hyrule. I even had an entire legion of bulbins banging on the gate of the town while my fellow knights and I picked them off with arrows. Those lizalfos were the breed that only live in the north, about as far from here as you can go. If they came all this way for the shard, no telling what else will come. If too many come I won't be able to protect everyone, so I need to leave now or the village will be endangered." Rusl looked at Link in a new light then._ This kid had never done anything for himself, has he? It's always about protecting us, or saving them. He would never do anything to hurt this village. Now he is willing to leave all this behind just to make sure we are safe. This kid doesn't deserve this kind of life…_"Very well, go. I will tell the others. But remember, you are welcome here any time." Rusl returned to the mayor's house, leaving Link cleaning his sword in front of Ilia. Ilia couldn't move or speak._ Stop him! You can't let him go again! What if he never comes back, huh? I can't let him leave without me! _

"Link… I… don't go… please…"

"I am sorry, but I have to go. I have to go to protect you. If you ever died because I was careless then I wouldn't be able to live with myself."

"No! It is not fair! You are going to leave so that all of us here can be safe and happy but that won't be true. If you leave then I know I won't be happy. If you can make that decision then I am going to go with you. I would rather die with you then live here safe but without you. So if you have to go, then I will go too. You can't stop me, because I need to do this just as much as you need to leave."

"Ilia… you can't go with me…"

"I can and I will. If you don't take me then I will just follow you. I have my own horse, you know."

"Ilia… ok, you can come with me. Get your stuff ready and I will be waiting for you at the gate…"

"Alright, I will just be a minute." As Ilia left to go inside Link sadly smiled and then ran over to his house. He hopped onto Epona and spurred her on, but Epona didn't go anywhere.

"Come on, Epona! We need to leave now! If Ilia does come, then she will be in danger at all times. Is that the kind of life you want her to live?" Epona neighed and still wouldn't move. Link sighed. "I want her to come too, but if she does then she might die…"

"And that bothers you?"

"Of course! I care for her. I just can't put her in danger… wait, who?" Ilia rode up on a horse next to him.

"Link, I care for you too, and I already went over this with you. If I die, I want to die at your side. I wouldn't have it any other way. You don't want me to die? I don't plan on dieing any time soon, so don't worry. After all, I still have your bow. I am not that bad of a shot with it. So come on, where should we go?" Link looked over at the girl of his dreams.

"Ok, but if you are coming with me then I think I should go in wolf form and you take Epona. Two sets of tracks are easy to find, while one set is much harder." Link pulled out the black shard and stabbed it into his stomach. He made a little grimace as it went in, but only a second later it was a green wolf on top of Epona instead of Link. Link hopped down and Ilia climbed up on Epona. Link was off at a dash, with Epona close behind. They were off.

AN: THE PROLOGUE IS DONE!


	2. Chapter 1

AN: The prologue was abnormally long, this is the actual length of most chapters. I have no intention of making this anything but a LINKxILIA, I mean, I don't even understand the people who like LinkxMidna… she looks like she could be Link's mom in age. And then the heart wrenching last scene… with Ilia waiting for Link. I DON'T OWN The Legend of Zelda or any of its characters, that goes for any chapter I post in this story. I mean, how many people actually think I would own Zelda… I wouldn't be writing fan fics, that's for sure. More like driving around in a hot car with women under each arm… and a driver because that would mean I wouldn't have any free hands…. Yeah.

Chapter 1: Flight of the Hero

Ilia was dead tired. After the flight from Ordon she had riden Epona for hours on end, following the wolf she had come to call her loved one. The world had changed in the few short hours since she had been reunited with Link. She could feel the evil coming from the shard, like it was calling out to anything and everything to come to it. They had been attacked by giant, evil looking birds multiple times in their escape and each time Ilia had barely managed to shoot them down before they had gotten her. Then she would look away as Link tore their throats out. His silver and green fur was stained around the mouth with black,the color of their blood. They had finally taken a break at the southern entrance to Hyrule Castle Town. It turned out to be the wrong decision. Link was still in wolf form and curled up next to her where she leaned against the flights of stairs leading to the town. They were taking a small break before they were going to head into the town for lodging. Link would pose as Ilia's pet wolf and hopefully they would get through.

"Link, are you ok?" The wolf next to her gave a small nod. He looked depressed for a wolf. She knew what must be troubling him.

"Don't worry. I am sure we will find a way to get rid of the fragment. Zelda will certainly help us. And then you will be able to live wherever you want to…" Link licked her hand in response. She smiled, taking it as a thank you.

"I hope Colin and the others… will be ok…" Ilia leaned back and stroked the wolf's beautiful coat and scratched him behind his ears. Link, on the other hand, was engulfed in his own thoughts. Many of which concerned the girl next to him.

_Damn, why did I let her come? She almost had her head taken off by those freaks. If she dies then I don't know what I would do. She is worrying herself over Colin and the others when all I think about is her. Granted, the scratching feels so… NO, stop that. What to do next. First I need to visit Zelda and see if she has any idea. Then… I have no idea. We just need to keep on the move until I can get rid of this. We should probably get moving right… shit._

Ilia stopped her scratching when something began to take shape in front of her. About ten feet away ghostly bones were coming out of the ground and forming what appeared to be giant skeletal dogs. Ilia had no idea what to do, so she brought out her bow, stood up, and shot and arrow. She was shocked as her arrow went through the stalhound's eye socket and out its back without damaging it. Link was suddenly in front of her. The hounds wee easily twice the size of Link, but if she knew anything about him it was that he never gave up in the face of danger.

"_Ilia, get back to the town!" Link had his wooden sword in a two-handed grip as the trio of Bokoblins approached the pair. Ilia was frozen, though. She couldn't find any strength in her body to move at all. It was the first time she had ever seen a monster. _

"_Link… I… I… can't move!"_

"_GO!" Link charged the trio recklessly. They had been about to split and have one go after Ilia, he knew. Now they would have to take him on before getting to her. His wooden sword wouldn't stand up to their steel ones, he knew that. He was forced to dodge, and dodge perfectly. The town of Ordon had no doctor and a severe gash could be fatal. Link rolled on the ground between two of them and swung his sword into the backs of one of the bokoblin's knees. It didn't cut the skin, this one was tougher then any he had faced before. Link jumped out of the way as two swords came crashing down where he had been seconds ago. Link saw an opening and stabbed one of the weaker ones through the neck before completing the decapitation. Thirty two. That would be the thirty-second sword he would add to his collection. If he survived._

_Link barely managed to back up as the bokoblin leader stabbed through the dead one to get him. He cut open Link's shirt, but didn't cut skin. Link dropped his own sword and grabbed the dull edge of the blade and held it, still stuck inside the headless bokoblin. The leader tried to pull the sword out, but couldn't for some reason. Then Link felt the hairs on the back of his neck tingle._

"_LINK!" Ilia screamed a warning as the third bokoblin tried to stab Link in the back. But Link was faster. He fell to the ground, the sword and the bokoblin off balance. The bokoblin that had attempted to stab him in the back ended up impaled on his own leader's sword and his own sword pierced his decapitated friend and into his leader. It would have been comical if it hadn't almost been Link in the sword sandwich._

"_Ilia, are you ok?"_

"_Ye…ye…" Ilia passed out. Link sighed and pulled the swords out of the bokoblins, dispersing them into black puffs of smoke. Thirty-four. He picked Ilia up after tying the swords to his back and started back towards the village._

"Link…" Ilia was afraid. It was just like that time… Link going up against all odds for her sake. To protect her...

Link was the first to move. He jumped an amazing distance for being his size and landed on one of the hound's backs with his teeth in the spine. As he tore it in half it disappeared into the ground. The second one managed to land a decent hit on Link before meeting the same fate. He had bitten Link's leg as Link had ripped its skull from its spine. After both had been sent back to the grave Link did not return. Instead he made motions towards the stairs.

"You think we should leave now?" He nodded.

"They might come back?" He nodded again.

"What about Epona?" He looked back at Epona and growled a little before Epona gave some sort of answer and trotted off.

"I guess she can take care of herself…" Ilia sighed at that thought before following Link up the stairs. It seemed like she was the only one here actually in danger. Link had just dispersed two ghosts that could have ripped her to shreds. Epona had trampled bokoblins to death on the way here. Ilia… she had managed to pierce the wings of a few birds…

Ilia managed to climb the last few steps before coming up to the long bridge leading towards the castle. Link was waiting for her on it. She figured it had to be safe to walk now, because Link would have been doing something if it wasn't. She walked over to him and then smiled. He was just sitting there with his tail wagging and his mouth hanging open. So… unlike Link and yet so much like him. Serious in the face of danger with a hidden sense of humor. They approached the guards at the gate.

"Halt, who goes there?"

"You idiot! It is obvious who it is! It isn't that dark with the torches. It is obviously a girl and a wolf… wait… a WOLF!" Each guard suddenly held their spear pointed towards Link. "Watch out, miss. There is a wolf behind you!"

"Wait! He is my pet! Don't hurt him!" The guards still kept their spears pointed near him, but relaxed a little.

"Who are you and what are you doing at this time of night?"

"My name is Ilia and I need a place to stay for the night."

"Would your… pet be staying too?"

"Yes, if that is alright."

"Well, there is that one place."

"Yeah, Telma's bar would be ok with him… probably. They have a cat already."

"So may I come in?"

"Yeah, I guess. But if your wolf does anything to anyone he will be killed, got it?" Ilia gave a small gulp as the guard waved his spear around in a threatening manner. Link didn't look the least bit worried, but Ilia had no idea he had gone running through town as a wolf many times.

"O…ok."

Ilia walked through the abandoned streets of Hyrule. It was as fancy as she had imagined. She had never been to anywhere else except country towns. Well, actually she had been here once. But that part of her memory was still mostly a haze. The multistoried buildings dwarfed her small house. Her entire village could have fit in the center square of town. Link led her to the bar she remembered, home to an acquaintance to both of them, the large and in charge Telma.

Ilia entered first, Link seemed to want her to explain him before he showed his face. Telma was cleaning a beer mug at the bar when she turned to find the girl she had helped all those weeks ago standing in the door.

"Ilia! Goodness girl, come in out of the night air. How are you, seen Link yet? He left here yesterday morning."

"Um… yeah. Actually, I was just coming here for a visit and wondered if I could stay here for a night…"

"OF COURSE! You know, Link told me all about you. Have you gotten your memory back?"

"Yeah… I have… I went home and visited my family yesterday. Do you mind if my… pet stays with me?"

"Of course not. What kind of pet?"

"Um… he's a… wolf…"

"What?"

"Yeah, Link… um… trained one to protect me when I was a kid. He likes to follow me everywhere and he protects me from monsters."

"Really? What color is he?"

"Green and silver."

"Oh! I remember him. He was trying to get in here one time! He must have smelled you and wanted to see you but I kicked him out! Sure, he can be in here as long as he doesn't cause trouble."

"Oh, he is well behaved." Ilia waved to the door and a large silver and green wolf walked in. Telma found his eyes very familiar, but blamed it on coincidence.

"Here, I can get you something to eat for your wolf and you. Just wait a second." Telma walked around the bar and into the celler. She reappeared with a raw steak and a plate of fruit and cheese.

"Here you go." She placed the steak in front of the wolf. "It's repayment for kicking you out earlier. If only you had said something about protecting little Ilia over here I would have let you in." Telma laughed at her own little joke. Link dug into the raw steak with all of his might. The taste might have been bad for humans, but for wolves it was delicious and managed to clean the taste of the black blood out of his mouth. Ilia was content with her fruit and cheese. Indeed, she was delighted, mainly because she remembered that being almost all she ate when she had been here with no memory.

"So, Ilia. What are you planning on doing tomorrow in town?"

"Well, me and… my wolf are going to see if we can see the princess."

"Oh, really? If you tell her you are from Ordon then I bet she will get you in. She had her eye set on Link." Ilia almost choked on her dinner.

"What?"

"Yeah, didn't Link tell you? He was invited by the princess to "help rule the kingdom". In common tongue, that means she wanted him to be her king, if ya know what I mean." Under the table Link slowly backed away from Ilia, hoping she wouldn't be angry at him.

"You mean to tell me Link gave up on being king so he could come back…"

"Yeah, to live in Ordon… with you."

"What?"

"Oh, he never said that, but that is what he meant. He told the princess that he had special people to protect and that he wanted to stay with them. You know what that means?"

"No…"

"He was already in love with someone else…"

"… but who?"

"What's that, dear?"

"Who is he in love with?" Link was about to go crazy under the table. Here he was, three feet under them, and they were talking about his love life! And how on earth did Telma know all this stuff about what he meant? She was spookily correct…

"Ilia, I wouldn't worry about it. The way he fought for you, protected you, and helped you regain your memories I assume, all mean that he at least cares for you. I would consider it a compliment if someone gave up a beautiful woman, infinite rupees, and the most prestigious job in the world to live in the village I lived in."

Ilia was blushing horribly, and was very glad that Link was under the table. Wait… Link… was under the table… and they had been openly talking about who he loved and implying that he loved her! Ilia blushed even more. Telma didn't realize what for, or at least only grasped the most obvious reason.

"Haha, look at you. You're blushing like a little school girl! Well, good luck missy. You just might be needing to fight for that young Link's hand. Right now he is the hottest thing in Hyrule. I do believe that he was declared the kingdom's most eligible knight last week at some point. He refused the award, of course. But that just made him all the more desirable to some girls. Never let him out of your sight in town or you might find yourself short one boyfriend."

Ilia's face was a combination of shock and embarrassment at Telma's statements. Link was right below them, hopefully still chewing on his steak. Sure, Ilia had told him that she really cared for him. He had even said he might love her… might… Ilia didn't know how to handle this information. Suddenly, the man she had jumped in Ordon Springs and kissed in front of the children who were like family to her was a "hot item". He wasn't just the farm boy and protector that had always seemed to Ilia to be a brave hero. Now he was a brave hero to everyone and her affections for him were not at all special. She kept trying to tell herself that they were special, but everything she loved about Link was now what everyone else loved as well.

"I… but… what I think about him… I always knew he was a hero and brave and handsome and…"

"Yeah, so?"

"But now… now what I thought about him is common thought… what right do I have to say that I lo… care for him more?"

"Haven't you known him longer? Who knows him best? Do you think the princess, who probably saw him once or twice before popping the question, has more right to his hand then you, who have known him your entire life and cared for him that long? Do you think he will even respond to the affections of fan girls who "love" him for the very sake that he is handsome and saved the kingdom and want a husband like him, not him, but like him? No offense, Ilia, but you should have a little faith in the hero of time. He isn't some kid who will run away with the emotions of the first person to tell him they love him. He knows what he wants, and he said to most of the city that what he wants is in Ordon. Granted, that could mean anything, but I choose the think that what he wants is not a where, but a who."

Ilia smiled a little. Even though Link heard every word and would probably set her straight later it made her feel good at the time to admit that there was the chance that what Link wanted was her. Link, on the other hand, was thinking along the same lines that Telma had been talking about. He had been tempted… very tempted… to accept the princess's offer. How often does one get the chance to help everyone in the entire kingdom with every decision they make? He had only turned it down after intense and careful though. He had realized that the happiest time in life was not when he had saved the world from Zant and Ganon. It wasn't when he was exploring the vast lands of Hyrule. It wasn't even when he had been knighted and given award after award. The happiest moments in his life were when he was living, just living, in the peaceful village of Ordon. Tending the goats, fishing, helping his neighbors, protecting his friends… and loved ones. It was the peace of the small forest town that had made him happy, and the people that had been there. He had not been thinking about Ilia specifically, but deep down he knew that she had been one of the main causes for happiness in his life, and maybe… one day… he would have considered settling down with a wife and having children… but… then she kissed me. And it all changed instantaneously.

The emotions that had been buried deep down came flowing to the surface. It wasn't just a maybe love, it was an all-out, no retreat, and die-for-you love. And it had been this love that had let him let her come with him, which he knew would be a dangerous choice. He wanted her with him, but he felt the guilt of wanting her with him and therefore putting her in danger. He didn't deserve her. She didn't deserve the life she might be forced to live, a life on the run with a wolf. She deserved a peace filled life with a loving husband and beautiful children. That was a life he wanted to give her… but once again, he wouldn't be able to give it to her… at least not now.

"Now, Ilia dear, you can stay in the back room. I'll set up a cot for you." Telma left her eating what was left of dinner. She didn't feel very hungry anymore. She wanted… she just wanted to be with Link. That was it. If she could be with Link wherever he was always she wouldn't care if she was always on the run.

"Link…" The wolf pricked up his ears but stayed under the table.

"I… just want you to know that… Even if you have to run forever, and never get the shard destroyed, I want to run with you." Under the table the wolf looked as close to surprise as a wolf could look. "I don't care about the danger, I don't care if I die. I just… I just want to be wherever you are…"

Link somehow knew she would say that… he smiled and wagged his tail a little. That was what he wanted as well, but also something more. Something he knew that as of that moment he would work for. He would work for it until it became reality. He would work for the day when they no longer had to run, when they could go back to their friends and families… and maybe a family of their own.

The next morning found Ilia and her "pet wolf" walking through the already busy square. Some people seemed to be afraid of Link, but others had taken wolf sightings to be good things. Many people had reported a wolf sighting immediately before the princess had been saved. Ilia approached Hyrule Castle with Link behind her. The guards let her in as soon as she said she an emissary from Ordon. Apparently the princess had been expecting a letter of "update" from Link. She was escorted to the throne room, but found it empty. When she approached the throne, led by Link, she noticed that the throne was, indeed, occupied. A very slender and beautiful woman probably a year or two older then Link sat regally in the seat. When she saw the wolf she immediately had a smile on her face and jumped out of the chair to rush down the steps and greet the man who had saved her.

"Link! It is good to see you again! Oh, that's right. You can't talk. That's ok. Thanks for visiting anyway." Finally the princess turned to face Ilia. She was greeted with a less joyous, but still cheerful, smile.

"And, may I ask who you are to be in the presence of the savior of the kingdom?"

"I am Ilia of Ordon, the mayor's daughter. We came here to ask for your help."

"Really? What sort of help?"

"Well, Link's a wolf…"

"Oh, I can fix that. The royal line is able to do magic, don't you know that?" Zelda, for that was the princess's name, held her hands in the air and gathered an orb of bright magical energy. She touched it to Link, and the shard of Zant immediately came out. Link reverted back into his human form. He gave a sigh.

"Zelda, I didn't want out of wolf form."

"Hm? Why?"

"Well, mainly because as soon as I leave I am going to be mobbed by young women. The real reason why we are here is because of this." Link picked the shard up in a gauntleted hand and handed it to the princess. "I need to destroy it. All of those attacks on the city in the days after the final battle, I am almost positive, were because of this." Zelda held it in her delicate, gloved hand.

"Hm, you are right about one thing. This is defiantly evil. It is radiating power that I bet could be felt all the way up in Zora's Domain. It could be what the monsters are looking for. Destroy it… hm… it is pure, solid magic. This isn't some simple thing to smash. Did you already try to use the master sword on it?"

"Yes, it didn't even crack. Ganon's sword did the same."

"How about taking it to a great fairy?"

"I took it to one of the spring guardians and he couldn't take it on."

"Ok, how about you drop it into the fires of Death Mountain?"

"No, too many enemies can survive the lava and would be able to get it out. Then anything could get it."

"Bury it?"

"I am looking for a more permanent solution."

"Take it to the city in the sky?"

"I will not endanger the Oocco for my own sake."

"Ok… I am running out of ideas…"

"Can it be destroyed, tell me that much."

"I… don't know."

"But you know everything about magic."

"Almost everything… twilit magic doesn't count."

"Damn it all, why didn't Midna take the damn thing with her?"

"Well, you know what you could do?"

"What?"

"Create a new mirror of twilight and send it to her."

"What? How do I do that?"

"Um… well I guess you would need to go back to the mirror chamber and make a new one. The only way I can think of is the go find a library that has books back from when the original sages made the original mirror. Maybe there is a way to make a new one?"

"A library? Ok. Ilia and I are going to visit Mr. and Mrs. Yeti. They had a lot of books all over their house." Ilia spoke up finally.

"Mr. and Mrs. Yeti?"

"Yeah, they live way up in the mountains beyond Zora's Domain. Do you want to come?" Link smiled over at Ilia, knowing full well what she had told him she had wanted to do. He just wanted to hear her tell him.

"Yes, I'll go with you." Unspoken words understood between them followed. _Wherever you go, forever till I die._

AN: Thank you for reading and reviewing.


	3. Chapter 2

AN: Long update wait, I know. But, as I said. This is technically on the slow tract until blind is done, then I will work equally on this and Chaos. Alright, I love the four of you who reviewed my first two chapters. I knew when I started this that the Link Ilia fan base is a silent majority, meaning everyone likes it, but they refuse to admit it. It is like the MalonxLink pairing all over again! Yeah! It would be easier to find this fic is they had Ilia as a character option… I think I will ask them to do that. Oh well, this is snow time to be rambling… get it… snow? Yeah…

Chapter 2: Mountain Hiking

If a person looked at a map of Hyrule they would see that the Castle had been placed, as one would think, near the middle. That is, the middle of easily accessible land. Hyrule technically also contained a vast desert that was nearly impossible to reach by normal means and, far past the Zora's Domain, a range of mountains.

The mountains of Hyrule have been the thing of legends for ages. It has been said that not one human had ever been able to climb to the complete summit of even the first peak. Some claim a Goron was able to, but stopped after the second, complaining that the cold was causing his skin to crack, which is a serious issue for a creature with rock able to resist molten lava for skin. The truth was… yes, no human had ever survived in the wilds of the Snowpeak Mountain Range for more then a week, and none had ever climbed a peak. But very few people, in the single digits, knew that one man had once not gone over the mountains, but through them, and had not died.

Zoras claim to have seen a man enter into the snowy regions and, after warning him, watched him disappear into a snowstorm. Everyone thought the green clad man was as good as dead, but were proven wrong when two weeks later he reappeared, still in the abnormally light clothing. He had been the talk of the domain for months now, a human surviving for weeks. None of them knew about the hidden mansion in the valley of the mountains. It was a hidden valley, and a person would need to get to the top of the first foothill before attempting to find it. With the wolves and keese not one had had the chance to find it. Except Link.

So when the green clad warrior with the sword and shield on his back came back to Zora's Domain with a woman beside him, dressed only slightly warmer, and walked into the cave leading into the snowy wasteland the entire population was there to see him off. Some waved, some cheered, all caused the young female human to start turning red, which many Zora took to mean she was already sick, and then gaped as the snowstorms covered them.

A careful observer would have hardly noticed the man and woman traveling through the snow, waist deep at times. Link led the way with one hand on his sword's hilt and the other enveloping Ilia's. They had already climbed an impressive distance, which Ilia took to be an understatement considering her recent slip and glimpse over the cliff's edge. But, he assured her, there was a place they could rest up ahead.

They had been climbing now for two days, spending the nights in large chambers in the ground that Link seemed to know about. In the second one there had been some keese, but she had taken care of them with her bow and they had gotten a good nights rest despite the cold. They hadn't eaten any food besides dried fruit and meat since the begining of the trek up the mountains. But they continued the climb the next day, which had brought Ilia into her first encounter with a real wolf. And no ordinary wolf, either.

As Link fought it off with a massive ball and chain that he seemed to easily wield, he explained that this breed of wolf didn't just perfectly blend into it's surroundings with it's white coat, it was actually comprised, mostly, of snow. Ilia refused to believe him until she had seen two pairs of evil glowing eyes in a snow bank ahead and watched in half fascination, half horror, as a gaunt wolf came out with a jump. Link had smashed it away with a blow from his sword, but she watched as the wolf fell in two pieces _into_ the snow, leaving no trace where he had hit except the slight raise in the snow. Link then finished of the first one with a well placed throw of the ball and chain, crushing the first snow wolf.

"L…Link… why are we going up here again?" She knew the answer, but secretly wondered if the trek was worth it.

"Within a days journey from our next stop is the house of the Yeti's. They are an… energetic couple, I guess I would say. Just don't act like you have anything that would go well in a soup…"

"What?"

"Nothing, I'll tell you about it when we get to the next stop."

"…ok…" Ilia was secretly wondering if she would make it to the next stop._ How, in all of Din's fire, can he just walk around in that green tunic and nothing else! He even had me buy a heavy coat, boots, gloves, and warm clothes before leaving Castle Town, and I am starting to think my toes got left behind for the snow wolves to… do whatever snow wolves do with stuff… do they eat? How can they? Link must be crazy… or not able to feel anything… or dead…_

"Ilia?" She had stopped at that thought and gave a small giggle. Link knew she was probably freezing to death, and that short giggle for no reason had him worried. Luckily, they had just arrived at what appeared to be an impassable ledge with a snow bank covering most of it. Link frowned.

_Last time I was here all I needed to do was become a wolf and dig my way through, but with Ilia I need to do something else… bombs?_ Link reached for his belt and into one of the small bags on it. Out of it came a bomb that appeared larger then the actual bag, this caused Ilia to stare. That… and the fact that it was already lit.

"Link! You keep lit bombs in those bags on your belt?"

"Yeah… wait, no that's not right. Ilia, get back, ok?" Link walked up to the wall of snow and shoved the bomb into it near the spot where the wall met the ground. He took a few steps backwards, smiling at his placement. It should work. Suddenly he was tapped on the shoulder by Ilia. He turned to see what she wanted, but she wasn't looking at him. She was looking up. Link slowly looked up as well. Directly above them, a short distance up the steep slope, was a massive snow drift that looked ready to collapse. Any noise louder then speech could set it off. Like a bomb.

"Oh… damn." The bomb went off, snow and rock flying everywhere as Link tackled Ilia to the ground for cover. Link immediately looked up at the wall. It was open, a person could get through. Then he noticed the low rumble that seemed to be getting louder. He grabbed Ilia around her waist and dove into the hole, barely getting through before a massive wall of snow passed over where they had just been. They lay on the floor for a few minutes more until the avalanche and the rumble stopped.

"Link… Link, are we ok?"

"Look around you." Ilia lifted her head from where she had buried it into Link's chest, unconsciously of course, and sighed in relief. They had made it to the safe haven for the day. And it was still only mid afternoon by her assumption. There was a torch, burning endlessly in a completely empty chamber. It was actually decently warm due to the torch constantly being lit, the lack of wind, and the stone, not snow, floors. Not comfortable warm, but warm enough that one could sleep without worrying about hypothermia.

"We made it."

"Yeah, and just in time, too. It doesn't look like we are going to get back this way anytime soon. Which will probably be fine if you don't mind my company for a couple months…"

"A few months?"

"Snow hardly melts up here, so it might be months until the path back, which we completely covered in fresh snow, will be cleared by the wind."

"A few months…" Ilia looked shocked. Link helped her sit up next to him. Apparently, he had injured her ankle by tackling her to the ground when the bomb went off or when he almost threw her through the hole in the wall. He helped her stand and then helped her lean against the wall as close to the torch as possible.

"It won't be that bad. We can stay with the Yetis…"

"Link, you keep mentioning this couple called the Yetis, who are they? And what does soup have to do with anything?"

"The Yetis? Well Mr. Yeti is… hmm… about five times taller then me. He is a giant snow creature with decent intelligence… didn't I tell you about them in the story while we were still…"

"Home?"

"Yeah…" Link looked more down then she did, so she changed the subject.

"You only mentioned the names. So, Mrs. Yeti?

"Oh, she is about my height."

"So… wait… they are married?"

"Yeah… strange how the difference in height doesn't matter to them. When they hugged each other it reminded me of a man hugging a stuffed toy. Oh, the soup. Well, the first time I came up the mirror shard they had was making Mrs. Yeti sick, so Mr. Yeti was making a soup. Whenever I came past his massive pot of soup with a piece of food the guy would literally attack me to get it to add to his soup to help his wife."

"Fanatical devotion to one's wife is a good thing in my book."

"You would say that." Link smiled at her. She looked beautiful in the low lit room, with the shadows and light of the flame dancing over her features. He still hadn't talked with her about the conversation in the bar. Apparently she had forgotten about it or was too embarrassed to mention it… Link knew that that was probably the case. Ilia was exactly like him when it came to emotions, don't ask, don't tell. And she just sat there rubbing her wounded ankle looking beautiful… it wasn't fair to force him to watch.

"You know... with that ankle I might just have to carry you the rest of the way." Ilia looked up at him suddenly, a lot of horror on her face. He laughed internally.

"But… but I can't hold you back like this! I'll just wait here until I'm better and then follow…"

"No. There is no splitting up on this. Remember, you said you would come with me, right? So come with me. Besides, if I carry you it will take less time then if we walked together."

"Wha…"

"Nope, I won't tell. You'll find out in the morning. Do you want some food?" Link reached into one of his pouches and brought out a fish that was definitely too large to fit in it. "I caught it the night before we left Zora's Domain. The cold kept it pretty well so I was waiting for a fire. Now we can have a hot meal." He cleaned the fish on the other side of the cave before coming back to the fire with two large fillets of fish. He pulled out the claw weapon he had used to defend Ordon and impaled the fish on the spikes that were used to grab. Before holding it in the fire. He looked down at Ilia, who was staring at his waist.

"Ilia?"

"Oh, sorry! I… I was wondering how you just pulled a fish out of that bag… and a bomb out of one of the others before."

"Well… it's a long and complicated process this one guy told me about involving magic runes and ancient stuff…"

"You don't know, do you?"

"Not a clue." Ilia giggled and Link smiled. It was good to hear her laugh. He stayed holding the fish over the fire with his claw shot. It never seemed to get too hot for him to hold, some sort of special metal was his guess as to why. He wasn't a genius, just a warrior. It was simple to hold his arm straight out for the time it took to cook the fish. He wasn't the best cook, but he knew when something was done by the black marks that would appear. He set his shield out on the ground, face down, and put the fish in it. He sat down across from Ilia and gave her a small dagger to eat with.

She had been silent for a while, not knowing what to say. It seemed like things were just going from one bad thing to the next just because she was there. First, she had gotten herself captured. Second, she had lost her memory and forced Link to help her get it back so he could continue on his quest. Third, she was a natural target for birds, wolves, and skeleton dogs. Link was being forced to protect two people, one more then he normally would have to. If she had known that Link was enjoying her company a lot more then being stuck with a wisecracking imp or all alone, she might have felt less guilty. Here, Link had remembered to get a fish for her. She didn't even know how to fish, she had only watched Colon and Link do it sparingly.

_Why can't I be less of a burden? Link is going to have to carry me the rest of the way and I… I love him too much to put him through this. It is almost sad how I followed him only to cause him more trouble…_

Link had noticed her face, which seemed to be in pain of some sort. Link decided now would be the perfect time to have that talk. He had wanted to save it for when they were in the Yeti's home, with the roaring fire and the smells of food, but decided she needed it now.

"Ilia."

"Yes."

"Thank you."

"Wha…what?"

"Thanks for coming with me. You have no idea how much better it is to be with someone then to be alone. Traveling up these slopes the last time I was here was dismal. Midna thought it was too cold and never came out of my shadow once until we arrived unless it was to ride my back as a wolf, and then she never spoke. Just having someone to talk to is… well, I don't have any doubts about bringing you with me." Ilia's face went from surprised to a sad little smile.

Here she was feeling sorry for the man she loves when he was actually appreciating it.

"You… you mean that?"

"When do I say something I don't mean?"

"Well, there was that one time you told me you would help feed the animals when we were still young…"

"That doesn't count, I was talking in my sleep."

"It didn't sound like that. You told me you would do it in the morning."

"I was already asleep. And it wasn't actually nice of you to wake me up the next morning at the regular time with ice cold water."

"Whatever." Link laughed. A warm laugh that Ilia loved beyond even the way his bangs sometimes would hang in front of his face or how his hair was always crazy from the hat he never took off unless it was absolutely necessary or Ilia removed it. Even before he had the hat he had crazy hair and it had always made her giggle. The tension was broken and they were back. Ilia took the dagger and cut off a piece of the fish before stabbing it and putting it in her mouth. It was slightly burned on the outside, but tasty.

"Link, I think you need to learn how to cook."

"Now, why would I want to do that? You cook just fine." Ilia stared at him. Did he just realize what he had implied?

"What if I don't feel like cooking for you every meal of the day?"

"Well then what would be the point of eating? Your cooking is always the best. I remember one time you brought fresh pumpkin bread out to the ranch one day a few years ago and I passed out after eating it, thinking I had died and gone to heaven."

"Silly, you passed out from exhaustion. That's what the doctor said. I thought you had choked on it and died! That wasn't fun at all."

"Tasted good, though." Link snickered as she threw a small piece of fish at him. He caught it and ate it.

"Now, now. If you didn't want your fish you can just leave it there for me." Ilia waved the dagger at him dangerously before stabbing another piece of fish with a smile. Ilia was thinking about his earlier comment.

"Well, if you won't eat unless I cook for you then I guess I'll need to cook. You are a growing boy, after all."

"Ilia. You sound like Rusl."

"No I don't. If I did my voice would be two octaves lower!"

"Good point."

"It is going to be a hassle when we get back to Ordon. I'll have to walk to your house every morning just to make sure you eat something."

"Well…" Link was about to mention something about maybe she moving closer to his home… like into it… when he stopped. The torch that hadn't gone out it years was getting dim. It was still burning the same, but the light it was giving off was diminishing. Then he felt a disturbingly familiar presence near the exit of the cave. The exit, a hole that shot straight up with a ladder, was behind him. He spun around, instantly unsheathing his sword, it was… something… It looked to the a man with red eyes made out of snow, but reminded him of a redead or a poe. It was slowly walking towards them… until it was crushed under a massive figure from out of nowhere. Link still had his sword out, but then placed it back with a smile when the torch became as bright as it had been.

"Huh? You are… FUNNY GREEN MAN! WELCOME!" The massive figure still bathed in shadow stepped into the light, revealing it to be Yeti. Ilia, who had been staring at the pile of snow that had once been… something, was now looking at the huge creature in front of her. Link had not been exaggerating on his size… in fact, he had probably underestimated. He was ducking to stay in the cavern.

"Oh, you come back to see us! This great! I come to see what rumble was, but find you. Wife be so happy to see you again! And you brought friend! Oh, I see, you follow Yeti's advice and get wife! Good! You on spiritual journey again with woman?"

"Yeah, something like that." Link didn't want to seem rude by correcting the mistake, and was grateful that the light was low enough so that no one would notice his blush. Ilia was glad he wasn't facing her, or he would have seen hers.

"You stay with us as long as you like! I take you there now!" Yeti just jumped out of the cavern. The piece of fish that had been hanging out of Ilia's mouth since the first intruder was suddenly swallowed.

"Well, you heard the giant snow man, let's get going!" Link didn't seem scared of the creature, and he seemed friendly enough… Ilia pushed herself up off the wall and took a step towards Link… only to fall to her knees in pain. Link caught her before she hit and picked her up in his arms bridal style.

"Link?"

"I'll carry you. Don't worry." Link had already put on his shield, he had done it while the Yeti was leaving, and he gave the last piece of fish to Ilia before moving to the exit. How was he was planning to climb with her in his arms was beyond her.

"Link… Link?"

"Hold on." Link crouched on the ground, tensing for something, before he suddenly jumped. He placed his foot on a rung of the ladder and then used it to propel him straight upwards again. Not leaning back at all he managed to literally sprint up the ladder until he reached the level of the ceiling of the chamber they had just been in, then he jumped off from the ladder and found a foot hold in the wall opposite of the sturdy enough to push off again, then again off the ladder and again off the wall. When he reached the top gasping for air Ilia looked to be as white as the snow around them.

"Wow, I never did that with another person before…"

"Huh?" Ilia was in shock, he could tell. How he did that was beyond her and she chose not to think of what would have happened if he had slipped in footing once… Link continued to carry her out of the cave mouth and into the snow storm again. It wasn't nearly as cold as before, thought Ilia, but that was probably just the close contact with Link's chest against her head. She curled up even more until Link told her to look.

The wind had died down and they were standing next to a frozen tree. As far as she could see was mountains of snow. The sun was setting as they stood and the light of the sun made the snow shine as it had never done in their hike up. She could see the Hyrule Castle in the distance, but they were up even higher then the tallest parapet. The snow glistened like diamonds and the colors of the sky made it appear as if this was just a magnificent dream or a painting.

Link looked out at it with her, but was thinking more about getting to the mansion before night fell and temperatures dropped another twenty degrees. He kicked the icy tree and watched one of its frozen leafs drop. He carefully shifted Ilia to his back and told her to hold on tight. It was going to be a rough ride.

Link carried Ilia in through the massive doors of the abode of the Yetis. She was nearly asleep in his arms and he was nearly dead on his feet. He had surprised himself by being able to jump out of the cavern while carrying Ilia, and the ride down the valley wasn't any easier. He had nearly collapsed from exhaustion upon arriving, but managed to get the doors open and walk through the drafty welcoming hall and into the warm abode of the Yetis. It was Yeta that caught him as he was falling.

"Oh… Yeti said you had come back. Welcome. Here, sit in chair. I take friend to bed." Link barely shook his head as he sat down into a massive arm chair with Ilia still in his arms. Somehow, through the exhaustion, he knew that if Ilia woke up alone in another room that she would not like it. Instead, he managed to sit her next to him in the chair without waking her. The fire would do them well and they wouldn't be apart. Ilia smiled from the warmth and curled up next to Link so that her head was laying on his chest. Link managed a small smile before drifting off into the realm of sleep again…

AN: Ok, this is a short chapter, I know. But that's the way things go.


	4. Chapter 3

* * *

AN: Been away for far too long.

* * *

Chapter 4: The Library

* * *

Link awoke sometime later. With no way to judge the time of day from the comfortable living room of the Yeti's, he had no idea how long he had slept. He only knew one thing.

Ilia wasn't next to him.

Just as Link was about to draw his sword and jump to his feet he realized slightly too late that his legs weren't quite up to the task. He tumbled out of the chair and onto the ground. Link slowly climbed to his feet, rolling out his shoulders and trying to remove a crick in his neck.

_Mental note, never sleep with a sword and shield on your back._

Link drew his sword, this time managing to get it out of its sheath, and approached the door that he knew led to the kitchen. He had his sword held and ready to cut down anything that might come out if it wasn't a Yeti or Ilia. He slowly reached towards the handle, making sure not to bring his skin in contact with the actual metal. That had been a lesson he learned last time he was here. If the room on the other side of the door had lost its heat, the door handle would easily freeze his hand. He grasped the handle and slowly turned it…

And was caught off guard as the door slammed him right off his feet, through the air, and to the ground. Link quickly recovered with a back-flip and landed on his feet, ready to cut the perpetrator in half.

Only to see that the offending creature was actually Ilia, on crutches, with soup.

She hobbled through the door quickly and it was only then that the one who actually opened the door came through. Mr. Yeti stepped in after her.

"Link! You're awake!"

Link smiled at her, glad it hadn't been an emergency, before sheathing his sword and taking it and his shield off.

"Of course. Why wouldn't I be?"

Ilia frowned and made her way over to him.

"Link… you were asleep for two days. Yeta said you were suffering from hypothermia as well as a poison."

"Poison?"

"Yes, she said it was the same poison she was afflicted with."

Link frowned at that information. Yeta had probably meant that he was suffering from something dealing with the twilight… but… that shouldn't be possible. Midna took it all with her except the shard… didn't she? Link decided to think about it later, when his stomach and head didn't hurt so much.

"Well, I feel fine now…"

"No, you don't. I can see it in your eyes. Here, eat this. It's… good." Ilia struggled to get out the last word and Link found out with the first taste why. It was all he could do to take the first sip from the bowl without dry heaving. It was, in the nicest of terms, foul.

"Good soup, green man, I made with one keg of salt and two keg of fish!" Yeto seemed proud of his concoction, so Link took another sip. It was slightly easier to get down the second time. "Two type of fish in kegs, sa-quid and lef-tover. Yeta say that what kegs say."

That made Link start choking. Squid and leftover? Leftover fish? Like the… eyes and brains? Ilia gave him an apologetic smile and mouthed the words 'cheese' and 'pumpkin' to him as she patted his back.

That made Link smile.

* * *

"_Ilia, you really don't have to bring me lunch every day. I can cook."_

_Link looked slightly down into the hair of a downward facing Ilia. He had been working for the ranch in Ordon for months now and Ilia had not once forgotten to bring him at least a snack every day around lunch. Link had to admit her cooking was infinitely better then his own. Her muffins topped his own acorn surprise one hundred percent of the time. A young Ilia looked up into his eyes and stuck out a cloth holding what looked like biscuits to him._

"_I know… but you can't cook well. And I really don't have that much to do anyway…"_

_That was a lie, and both of them knew it. In a small farm town like Ordon the chores were endless. If you worked eight hours a day you might have one free day a week. And that was when it wasn't harvest season. Ilia, as a young girl, had less chores to do then Link, but she was still kept busy. _

"_Thanks Ilia." He was willing to ignore her avoiding chores as long as it got him treats like this. Ilia smiled at him, that cute little smile that forced him to smile back every time._

"_They're a new recipe, cheese and pumpkin biscuits. I think they're really good…" Ilia glanced at the ground shyly and clasped her hands in front of her body. Link took this as his cue to try the food. He took a biscuit and took a big bite out of it, determined to prove Ilia true._

"_Wow, Ilia these…" And Link was forced to stop talking as the taste hit his taste buds. To Ilia it looked like he froze in mid chew. Link was about two steps ahead of stunned and one behind heaven._

_Euphoria._

"_Link?"_

_Link finished chewing his large bite and then took another. Same as before, the biscuit tasted like heaven was supposed to be._

"_Ilia… this is probably the best thing I have ever had in my entire life!"_

_Actually, that was what Link wanted to say. What actually came out of his mouth was random mumbles and crumbs. Ilia watched in fascination as Link consumed fourteen biscuits in one minute. She, herself, took the last two and took a small bite out of one. She thought it was pretty good, but not great. Her father had said it was 'interesting', whatever that meant. Rusl had taken a bite, frozen, and then ran into the bushes to, she assumed, eat the rest of it while making funny noises._

_Link had a really… interesting sense of taste apparently._

"_Wow… Ilia, those are amazing!"_

"_Really?" Ilia was overjoyed to hear it from the boy she had a crush on._

"_Yeah, those biscuits were the most amazing things I have ever eaten!" Link was not kidding in the least. In fact, the last biscuit in Ilia's hand looked particularly good._

_That lunch break ended with both Ilia and Link covered in hay and neither satisfied with the half of biscuit they got. It would be years before Ilia made them again, claiming they were to much trouble._

_But mainly because she was still sore at him for tackling her into the hay._

_Even if it had been fun._

* * *

Link mouthed a 'really' back to her, and she nodded. Link managed to quickly down the rest of the 'soup' before sitting back down into the massive chair and having Ilia plop down next to him. He held the nasty stuff in before turning to the lovely woman beside him.

"Better?" She asked him.

"Yes, much." He smiled back at her before laying back into the chair once again. She took a seat next to him, the chair easily being large enough for both of them, and leaned against him. Link relaxed when her head rested against his shoulder, like the stress of the past few weeks was draining away. He was still tired from the long and cold hike up the mountain, but at least the side Ilia was against felt good.

"You come back at bad time, green man. Evil things come in my house, take over snowy parts. I kill, but they come back."

Link's mind went back to the unknown monster in the cave. Even its presence had given him shivers.

"What do they look like?"

"Like little white man, with red eyes. They turn to snow when I hurt them. I crush one as I saw you."

So they were a new kind of monster. Interesting. With the defeat of Ganon and Zant no more monsters should have been appearing. At least, no more monsters under their control. If his instincts were correct, they were like redead, only with the soul and no rotting corpse for a body.

A soul with no body.

Link thought back to his past experiences with the redead of Hyrule. In all of his fights and with the advice of many people, he had finally come to the conclusion that the redead were the restless souls of the innocent lashing out at a cruel and merciless world from the corpse of their previous body. If their bodies no longer existed, the souls obviously would.

_My past enemies are coming back to haunt me?_

_No._

That was not the answer. They were _like_ redead, but not exactly. Something about them reeked of Zant, but he was dead.

Wasn't he?

* * *

The next few days were spent carefully exploring the ancient home of the Yeti. Link investigated every room as thoroughly as he could while remaining human. Most of the time was spent eliminating enemies and placing lit torches everywhere. He systematically went through ever room between him and the multiple rooms with books and cleared away large piles of snow capable of producing snow wolves or the new enemies Link had dubbed snowdead. He placed lit torches that Yeto prepared for him in every corner and dark area of every room.

He wasn't being paranoid.

Just careful.

Ilia would be looking at the books with him.

She, on the other hand, spent most of her time helping the Yetis clean out the rooms Link had cleared out. It was agonizingly boring work, and the only excitement came from nearly being crushed by Yeti almost every few minutes.

Whatever Link thought was so dangerous about those extra rooms had to be safer than what she was doing.

It was only a few days later when most of the entire house was cleared of snow as best as could be done. Floors had been patched together to be fully repaired later. The courtyard now was filled with lit torches every meter or two. No snow was able to land without being melted, day or night. With months left until the thaw of their path home they figured that they had plenty of time to help around the house and look at the books, so they took it at a leisurely pace. Generally Link and Ilia would each take a couple of the books that looked either ancient or close enough and went into the fireplace room to read. Yetis, for the first time, was excited about the remodeling and clean up of his home, and as such was not often around. Yeta, on the other hand, insisted that she listen to at least one book a day, usually read by Ilia. Ilia would sit in one of the enormous chairs with Link and read whatever was in her book. Sometimes it would be an ancient legend of hero's conquering evil, other times an instruction manual for building what seemed to be a hand cart. Link had even less luck, usually getting what seemed to be bank records or, quite often, books about how to cook various extinct creatures.

They went about this daily routine for almost a month before the home was invaded.

* * *

"Link."

"What?"

Link sat across the fire from Ilia, each with a book in hand, and was getting fed up of studying his book of ancient mathematics hoping to find some reference to sages, twilight, or even a mirror. The Yetis had gone to sleep for the evening leaving Link and Ilia to do whatever they needed to do. Which was read until their eyeballs shorted out.

"I think I found something."

Instantly Link was at her side and looking over her shoulder from the other side of the chair.

…_Continuing on, the recent magic performed by the sages of Hyrule was pulled off successfully. The goal being to create a door to an alternate world, one to be used as a proposed prison. With the use of the large black stone found years ago in Lake Hyrule that has shown to hold powerful magic properties and a mirror created from ground up chips of the stone from which was supposed to block entrance to the sacred realm, the Door of Time. The same door which once held the hero of time…_

The article faded into illegible writing at that point, but Link had what he needed.

"This is it, Ilia! You found it!"

Before his celebration went any farther, the door leading into the main hall blew open in an explosion that could have only come from a bomb. Instantly, Link had Ilia behind his back and his sword in hand. He only had instants to react when three helmasaurs came sprinting through the smoke and debris.

Link kicked the chair over in their way as he brought out his claw shot, but froze when he saw at least two stalfoes, fully armored, come charging in after.

_Retreat._

Link had Ilia over his shoulder and the door to the courtyard open before even he knew it.

"Link! Put me down!"

Link had no time to reply a negative because he was forced to swing around a pillar to dodge a helmasaur. Ilia was squirming more than usual and he had no idea why until he reached the courtyard to find nearly every torch extinguished and snow coming in faster then was natural. He quickly barred the door he came from just in time to hear something hit it hard

Link looked to the door he came from, then to the ladder towards the bedroom of the Yetis. Yeti would be a great help in the fight that was coming, but Link knew that reaching there in time was probably impossible. In his frantic search he saw the cannon that was still in the courtyard. During his clean up he had placed all the ammunition directly around the cannon, for easy reach.

_That should work._

He finally let Ilia down off his shoulder and sprinted at the cannon, quickly aiming it at the door and loading a large metal ball before reaching for a bomb.

"LINK!"

Ilia's cry caused Link to dive to the ground, just in time to miss a large swooping bird that he assumed put out his torches. He was about to pull out his bow when he saw the thing go down with an arrow in the head. That was when he remembered that Ilia had his bow, first of all, and that she must have been getting it out as she was on his shoulder on the way here.

"Thanks."

His reply when unanswered as the door almost shattered from an impact from the other side. Link quickly drew a bomb and placed it in the cannon. There were a few agonizing seconds before the bomb detonated, and just before it went off the door broke and a stalfoes charged through.

Only to get hit by a hunk of metal traveling fast enough to completely destroy it and the stalfoes behind it, as well as the helmasaur directly behind that. Two more helmasaurs came through, not fazed in the least, only to find two prepared fighters on the other side of their comrades bodies. One went down with an arrow in the eye, avoiding the metal plate on its head, and the other soon found his metal plate in the hands of Link before he was cleaved in two by a combination of its own head piece and the Master Sword.

Link stood ready to fight the next thing that came through the door only to see nothing.

_That was it?_

"Link… I…"

Link quickly turned to find Ilia only steps away looking towards the far side of the courtyard. Link noticed it too. Moments ago the sky had been late afternoon and snowy. Now it was pitch black and the wind was picking up. The wind seemed to chill the two to their bones, blowing snow around till vision was extremely limited. It cleared moments after it started, but all the torches had now been extinguished and a thick layer of snow now covered the courtyard.

And it was moving.

The wind was blowing towards the pair from the corner of the courtyard farthest from them, but the snow seemed to be drawn towards that corner against the wind. Soon the entire area was clear of snow except a growing pile in the corner that was splitting into smaller piles. The wind no longer had anything thing to do with the chill they felt in their hearts now. The first pile took shape and Link cringed at the vague shape of a man.

What could only be described as soulless red eyes glowed out of the snow from sockets that didn't exist.

Soon others were formed, ten, twenty. Thirty two was the final count after only a few seconds of waiting since the first had been formed. It came to Link quickly exactly what the attack at the front door had been.

_A set-up._

The purpose of those monsters had been to lure Link and Ilia to the courtyard.

"Link… what do I do?"

For once in his journeys, Link had absolutely no idea. He had never had to take out this many redeads at once. And redeads that could simply disassemble themselves and reassemble at will just made things even more difficult. Link's hand quickly went to the book in his belt. They had what they had come for. It was time to leave.

"Ilia, take this…" Link handed her one of the many magical bags from his belt while never taking his eyes of monsters in front of them. While they hadn't started moving yet, and Link wasn't sure why, they might start at any time. "… and before you fire your next arrow, put the tip in the bag and pull it out. Only when I say so."

Link's eyes quickly darted to the upper levels of the courtyard and in an instant had found what he wanted to see.

_Got it._

Just as Link was about to put his plan into action he felt a chill go down his spine.

_Behind me._

Link had his sword out of the scabbard and slicing through the air fast enough to completely demolish the snowdead that had come up behind him. He was shocked to find that they actually had resistance similar to a regular flesh and bone body as his blade passed clean through. For a moment he had wondered if he had even killed it, but a second later the eyes dimmed and went out and the body collapsed into a pile of snow.

"Go!"

Link sheathed his sword and reached for his clawshot, now seeing exactly why the snowdead had been waiting. Five more were close behind them and the massive group was slowly advancing. Link grabbed the clawshot and reached for Ilia just as she fired a bomb arrow into the massive group of monsters. The explosion took out two or three, but by the time the smoke cleared Ilia and Link were on the top level and heading towards the entrance door.

Link and Ilia burst from the Yeti's home only to meet a snowstorm twice the strength of any they had gone through on the way up. Ilia had left her coat and gloves inside, so there was no way for her to go much further than a few feet.

Link quickly grabbed her shoulder and tried to block most of the wind from reaching her, to negligible effect, and trudged as fast as he could. Only a hundred feet from the Yetis home was a large rock which, Link knew, had a sheltering cavern in it. All they had to do was reach it.

Link's concentration was broken as a snow wolf jumped from the snow bank beside him and knocked him over, throwing Ilia and him to the ground. Link was up before the wolf could return and this time had his sword ready. The wolf impaled itself upon the sword point. Link looked around for Ilia, only to find a small piece of her clothing sticking out of the snow. The storm was picking up and Ilia looked unconscious.

_Can someone actually get hypothermia in such a small amount of time? Yes. In this supernatural wind and snow, it is probably freezing her nearly as fast as she can think.  
_Link wasn't willing to take the chance that she would die before getting far enough away from the infested castle. He needed to speed up. Instants later, Link had Ilia over his shoulder and he was taking the shard out of his bag and jabbing it into his leg. Instantly Link was a wolf with a human girl over his back, making his progress much quicker. Only a minute later he had reached the top of the small spire and dug into the safety of the hole.

Inside was as empty as he had left it all that time ago. Instantly Link went to work on creating warmth. He pulled about five bombs out of his bag with his mouth and threw them into the middle of the room before covering Ilia with his fur covered body. The explosion shook the cavern, but Link had accomplished his goal, if temporarily. The rock floor in the center of the room had become hot to the touch from the explosions and Link gently laid Ilia on the warmest area he could find that wouldn't burn her.

Her lips, which had been blue moments ago, began to become a more healthy pink and the rest of her body looked to be quickly heating up.

Link almost had time to sigh with relief.

But stopped when he remembered something.

_I smell something… evil._

With his enhanced senses as a wolf, Link was able to notice something he hadn't noticed minutes ago as a human.

_There is magic in the air. This storm is not natural, or even the work of the snowdead._

But there was nothing he could do about it, he only could work on keeping Ilia warm and alive. That was all that mattered now.

For an outsider it would have been a strange site.

A massive wolf laying next to a beautiful girl, each keeping the other warm, each just trying to survive.


End file.
